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Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Save the best till last - true inspirers!

Image of the founder of the first ever UK Asian Christian Church -Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry

We so often hear of the Pastors in our community, the singers and of those who just want to make themselves known. However at the protest on Saturday 19th December the biggest privilege for me in particular and those of the BPCA was the visit from Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry. Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry and his 3 brothers initiated the first ever Asian Christian church in the UK - no other Indian or Pakistani Christian can ever take that record away from him. Read more (click here). This pioneering elder of our community at the grand old age of 84 travelled by Public Transport in the dire cold weather - just to be part of the culmination of his work.

Until he and his brothers started the first ever UK Asian Christian Church - our people were a divided diaspora in the UK. There was no central focus or body - it all developed through that early church (do follow the link provided earlier or this will not make any sense).

Dr Chowdhry provided a most riveting speech before the delegation left for 10 Downing Street. You may ask, why he was not part of the delegation to 10 Downing Street or the Pakistan Embassy - the answer is simple. Of the 20 times he was asked to be invited as part of the delegation, he declined every single one of them! He humbly answered:

"My son, at my age and after all my achievements, it would not be right for me to gain publicity or favour, for a process in which I have had minimal input." I have prayed for your event and for your group and confirm my full support. However, this has been arranged by a much younger generation than mine and it is they, that should take the credit for the endeavour and any resulting gain for our community."

Alex and I continually implored him to speak at the event and of all those present, his speech was the only one to fit the allocated 3 minutes, and it's precise nature and succinct message was a poignant one. Promoting universal peace, justice and equality. Whilst also focusing on the need to give glory to God for all we do and placing our trust in him.

Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry is our only surviving pioneer of the first Asian Christian Church. My Father was one of his brothers and passed away in 2006. I am always bemused in the manner that such a pioneer seems to have been dropped of the Asian Christian Circuit. Why is he neither invited to participate in the the large conferences in Pakistan or in the UK. Without him there would not be a fellowship in the UK. He was the first to champion political reform in Pakistan from the UK and was a part of the Important delegation we took to MEP Jean Lambert on the 18th December that Lead figures like Dr Peter David failed to attend. His emphasis on improving education in Pakistan - was astounding and extremely meticulous. I hope Brothers in Pakistan and the UK will recognise his endeavour and that of his brothers and award him and they posthumously for his and their service to the Pakistan Christian community. If we do I hope it is before his demise - our community reacts so late preserving our history and instilling a sense of pride in the younger generation and posterity. In the UK they have now created a Black History agenda promoting people from Black and Asian history to give the new hybrid generation, familiar role models to aspire them to greater things. Why not do the same?

Let's stop promoting those that promote themselves and promote those that exude humility?

Your comments please.......

Secondly I present to you our new Communications Officer Gerald Sunny:

Gerald Sunny can be seen in the picture carrying the cross as we were setting up and preparing the worship service, outside the Pakistani Embassy. He is a very enigmatic man, I have met him few times and still know so little of him. The reason being, we just talk about the next plan of action, or how to improve our activities, we talk about the situation in Pakistan. This is the type of person we need to be supporting and encouraging to take a full time role in the overall agenda for change on Pakistan.

Gerald is a committed Christian and a learned individual. His recent address outside 10 Downing Street was inspirational and we are awaiting copies of his presentation so that we can incorporate it into our daily posts. We will be holding a debrief meeting (which we intend to hold in Alperton) soon, to encourage some of the young people there to get more involved with our group. Jessica Harris and David Harris in particular helped with the organisation in the pre-stage and event stage of our peace rally.

The person on the right in the Picture above is Atiq Chowdhry he is the 1st Vice Chairman of the BPCA and my elder brother. Atiq produced all the placards and encouraged peopel all day long. He visited Walthamstaow church frequently and spoke about our event. He and I both visited the church in Alperton from which the majority of Asian Christains came to our protest - we are indebited to them and I am sure that God will recognise theire efforts and committment.

Arish Chowdhry my younger cousin created the Facebook page which you can all now join, just serach via facebook inputting "British Pakistani Christian Association". Moreover he helped deisgn our wonderful logo, which was used in great effect on our protest lead banner. We amalgamated the British Union Flag with the Moon and Star from Pakistan. Placed a cross on and devised a succint motto "Creating a voice for Pakistani Christians". We intend to expand our work in the near future and have designated Arish as our Project Manager. The security at the event, the programmes and the leaflets although written byAlex, Atiq and I were printed by Arish who really held the fort well for us! See his image on our facebook page.

In the same picture you will also see Jessica and David Harris holding the banner. the two of them have been a real blessing to our nascent group. Young people like these need encouragement - we are arranging a debrief session regarding our protest in Alperton, hoping to recruit more young talent to our cause and group.

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